Oran Mor — Restaurant in Nantucket

Sat for 530pm reservation with my wife, first in months. Looking forward to quiet conversation. One person party seated next to us at two person corner table who proceeds to get on FaceTime speakerphone and loudly give others directions despite sideways glance from us and zero commentary from staff. The lost person shows up. So far, par for the entitled Nantucket day trippers. Then two drunk people show up as companions to the first - they’re not eating but manspreading - take over corner next to our table (also for only two people; now up to four, in between tables) and proceed to have a raucous reunion, share pictures of all the Cisco Brewery cocktails they had today, knock stuff over, all while staff did nothing. Only when the table next to them was seated did they ask the Cisco Brewery diaspora to get up and leave - apparently our seated party was of no consequence. Instead of asking the extras to leave they offered to move us. No - paying customers with a reservation trump hangers on. You ask THEM to move and go bother others, perhaps at Charlie Noble. Instead, the drunken non customers accost us on the way out after dropping 500 bucks - a frat style confrontation on the way out (“how dare you call us obnoxious”) with a drunken non customer. If you want a Chicken Box 1am atmosphere and freshman college drama with five star food, prices, service, and a winelist at 530pm this is your place. Otherwise, go to the Box and grab a well drink and some fries. Some of us are looking for a nice night out, not a drunken trip down Cisco Brewery lane. 500 dollar dinner and can’t even have a normal conversation - you’re better off at Millie’s. At least you know the food will be good for half the cost, and won’t be surprised (or disappointed) you can’t hear anyone talk across the table. And frankly? College student staff will actually say something to obnoxious folks who just plunk themselves down at a table (and order nothing) minus a reservation instead of smiling at customers paying a few hundred bucks whilst...

On the last night of a fabulous Mother’s Day getaway to Nantucket, my daughter arranged for us to dine at Oran Mor. It is a Bistro with supposedly fine dining. But the wait staff were the worst I’ve ever encountered in a so-called top tier restaurant.

The server was dour. The host/server’s assistant was supercilious. Neither appeared competent enough to distinguish field greens from romaine lettuce.

Both my daughter and I ordered a Caesar salad. We were served a bowl of field greens with Caesar garnishes of croutons and cheese shavings. I was relieved that the salad came with vinaigrette instead of Caesar dressing. But what a miss! As the server put the salad before me, I asked him what was in the bowl? He said he was serving the kale salad. When I asked if this wasn’t supposed to be a Caesar salad, he answered that yes it was a Caesar. There was not one crunchy piece of romaine in the dish.

I started to send the dish back and flee the restaurant. But this was our last night on the island and my daughter had taken time to select the restaurants for our visit. I didn’t want to spoil the last night over a bowl of greens.

But I wish we had left. My main course of chicken Ballotine arrived nestled in peas puree instead of the potato crème-fraiche puree listed on the menu. There were also baby yellow and red carrots, and pearl onions on the plate. A bland white sauce was dribbled over everything. But the advertised parsnips, shitake bacon and sausage that could have made the dish savory were not included. The chestnuts that could have added needed texture also were missing. The dish was also supposed to be served with cranberry compote, which the meal dearly needed to add complexity and depth. But no compote was delivered with the meal. I was out of the door before I remembered why the dish was such a disappointment. Like the salad order, the wait staff didn’t appear to realize what was missing either--- or just didn’t care.

It was an expensive dining experience, but not a rich one. In this case,...

Oran Mor is the culinary clarion call to be heard thundering out across the island from its seat at the gateway. Somehow it manages understated and unassuming when you enter but-- get ready, a giant awaits! In nearly a decade of my sampling across Nantucket, the chef at Oran Mor has both a demonstrable and an inarguable edge delivering some of the most sumptuous and technically challenging dishes I have encountered here. Whether it was the deft preparation of notoriously difficult octopus to the cheeky take on the Caesar and to harmonious application of foam, each bite is like a verse in an all too short and seductive koan. I honestly don't want to say anything else for fear I would spoil too much of the joy and creative energy you may experience in every subtle bit. The servers are thoughtful, quick, and funny at all the right moments. I cannot conceive of wanting anything more than what I received as fuel for a thoroughly romantic night that provoked deep and important conversations with the woman I love. Thank you for being...